choosing the right inflatable pontoon style

To determine a price for customized pontoons, take these steps.

A step by step process to determine the correct pontoon size for your needs.

1 go to this web site http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/customtubestyles.html

to look at the size you may want. Drawings are in jpegs on the left side. If the length and the diameter, number of d rings and other parts are the same, then the price will be the same as the cost on this list. Remember we can move parts around. Pay particular attention to things like baffles placement. They are usually shown as a yellow ring around the circumference of the tube.

2 Determine if the load you are carrying will be adequate for the draft that you want in the water. In other words, too much weight on a shallow river will make it drag too deeply, and may be sluggish for low horse power boats. It may even get hung up by shallow rocks. You can get draft specs at this web site. If you want to add more length, use a proportion of the length of the boat to determine the draft weight. Since length is proportional to buoyancy. For example: an eltigre 30 inch diameter tube with a 15 ft water line (shown as X15 ft in the chart) will hold 1300 lbs at 6 inches of draft. If we add another 5 ft to the water line, the tubes will hold 20/15*1300 lbs = 1733 lbs at 6 inches of draft.

See this web site.

http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/catdraft.html

3 Go to cats with motors web site and look at the issues involved with using a motor. This does not necessarily apply to Air boats, but some of it could.

See this web site.http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/cataraftmotors.html

4 You can add accessories to your tubes and price them using these two web sites. http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/tubeaccess.html Tube accessories will give you prices and designs like grommet strips, handles, and 2 sizes of D rings that are priced on or off the boat, just in case you want to glue them on later. This also covers baffles and extra length.

5 Now if your initial design did not have a double bottom layer, and you want one, or if you want to remove the double bottom layer and save some money, look at this web site. For double bottom prices:

http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/dblebottomaccess.html

That should do it. When you decide on a set of tubes, give us a call, send us a sketch of where the d rings and everything else are located, and we will send you an edrawing back of the tube that you want. You can spin it around in space, and see all the dimensions. More about edrawings and how to download the viewer is located here at this web site. http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/solidworkssoftware.html

With all this information, you should be able to make quality decisions about a boat. Remember length will get you less draft faster than larger diameters, and larger diameters tend to have large wind profiles. Too much depth in the water is the enemy of speed, and the wake that forms between the tubes with large weight and large motors can be an issue to deal with.

Thanks for reading this. Be sure to email me when you are ready for the computer model, or if you have any other questions. ejkloepfer.jpwinc@gmail.com

Jack

Order inquiries: shop.jpwinc@gmail.com
Custom & Prototype inquiries: pschoser.jpwinc@gmail.com